Do people still lie about being natural?

I remember when I was younger, people got texturizers or curl relaxers and claimed it was their natural texture. Soul Glo juice dripping down the side of their face, they would look you dead in the eye and say “My hair is just curly like this…I didn’t use S-curl!” I would stare blank faced at them, too stunned to even give good side-eye! I really thought we’ve come out of the age of curly “mixed” hair = good, kinky “nappy” hair = bad. Not because we’ve been training ourselves to think and feel differently but because nowadays a certain hair texture doesn’t mean long versus another equaling short. When I look at LongHairDontCare2011 and AfricanExport on You Tube, I don’t think to myself “Oooooh, their hair would be prettier if it were 3b texture” Sounds silly to even say, doesn’t it? No, I think to myself “OMG their hair is soooooo gorgeous, thick, full, lush and LONG!”

A few days ago Antonia “Toya” Carter Wright tweeted via Instagram yet another photo of her real hair with the caption: #myhair #natural #curly #blowdried #allmine which spurred a few reactions around the net. One of the major responses to her hair photos was people saying they do not believe that the wet hair photo is her natural texture, she either has a texture softener or mild relaxer to loosen the texture. Now, looking at the photos I can completely understand why folks say that – but, that was the furthest thing from my mind UNTIL someone else spoke on it. I mean, if you say you are natural, I believe you! Why wouldn’t I? Upon closer examination of the photos, being that Toya lives in weave, I can’t understand why any area of her hair aside from her leave out would have any straight pieces if her hair is naturally curly. *shrugs* But to lie about it? Why would anyone do that?

I remember when Curly Nikki interviewed Keisha Knight Pullium about her hair and she stated she was completely natural and supplied a photo of her supposed natural texture. Many women had the same reaction and again, I could understand why – it did seem considerably looser and wavier than when we fell in love with her big blown out texture on The Cosby Show.

Am I saying these ladies are lying? No. Honestly I don’t care enough to truly form a firm opinion one way or the other. My question is WHY? If they are lying WHY? If they aren’t, why do we think they are? Their hair is long and appears healthy so what difference does it make if they DO have a texturizer or not? And if they do, why don’t they just say that? Are we back to curly = good? Or maybe its just hate, people don’t want to give these and other ladies their props for having long healthy hair? Plenty of that going on within the online hair community.

Say what you want about Tyra Banks, but I applaud that she always readily admits to having a relaxer. She has repeatedly stated she has a mild relaxer to “loosen and relax some of the curl” , but does not allow it to process her hair completely straight because she prefers some texture. A woman after my own heart – honesty about your hair and despite natural being the trend, she continues to show that you can have healthy relaxed hair but shows constant support to those without relaxers. I think we may have been sisters in another life!

What are your thoughts?

Do people still lie about being natural?

Author: EbonyCPrincess

EbonyCPrincess is a Staff Writer for BHM She is a self-proclaimed hair enthusiast with a love of all things hair as long as keeping it healthy is the #1 priority. Along with informative articles, Ebony shares hairstyles, tutorials, the latest on celebrity hair trends, and much more!

7 Comments

Veronica

January 30, 2013

Well, I’m currently a natural who is “heat training” my hair. It sounds bad but I use good heat protectants. I simply wash my hair, blow it out, and flat iron it, paying special attention to the new growth. After a few times, my curl pattern loosens. It’s important not to put too much heat on the already loosened section of the hair.

You do not care enough if it is their real hair texture or not, but you write a whole article about the subject and call these women out. As though the hair they show is something that black women never have. This is really poor assumption on your part.

People fail to realize all hair is good and all Black women hair does curl and kink up…It’s how you handle it and what type of products you use gives you different results!!! If you blow your hair out or flat iron it yes the texture is going to change!!!

Yes, I have run into women who have said that their hair was naturally curly when it was obvious that they had an S-curl or WaveNouveau. I also know that when my [natural] hair is wet, it appears loosely curly-wavy and then dries that way if I do not blow dry or comb through it. So, it is possible to have natural hair and be long with curls/waves. I can see why women lie about their hair [especially us black women] because for so long “nappy” hair has been associated with bad hair. I mean, it’s even said in the black community and in black families with the comment “You got good hair.” It can be seen as funny, but there are undertones that only “good” hair [read not nappy or kinky hair] is beautiful. This could be part of the reason why women feel the need to lie about their hair.

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